Arroyo Grande rolls over SLO in baseball

If the Arroyo Grande High baseball team can put together a few more complete performances like it did Wednesday, the Eagles might be tough to beat the rest of the season.

Backed by a 16-hit outburst, Jesse Yancosek pitched a complete-game one-hitter as the Eagles shelled visiting San Luis Obispo, 10-0, to even the PAC 7 series at a game apiece and remain alone in first place in the league standings.

The start-to-finish rout came a day after the Tigers eked out a classic nine-inning, 1-0 walk-off win, a game in which the Eagles were unable to capitalize on nine hits.

“We had a lot of hard balls hit right at guys for outs (Tuesday),” Arroyo Grande coach Brad Lachemann said. “We just couldn’t get the big hit where we needed it.”

On Wednesday, however, the only thing that was close was the dominance between both the plate and the mound by Arroyo Grande (12-4, 8-3), which was in the others-receiving-votes category in this week’s CIF-Southern Section Division 2 top-10 rankings.

Yancosek, a 6-foot-2 senior, had seven strikeouts and finished with one walk. His knuckle curve consistently got over the plate, but he also credited his catcher and infield play for the near-no-hitter.

Yancosek has fit right in amidst the rest of the Eagles’ star-studded rotation, which also features two Division I signees in Colton Haynes (Cal Poly) and Kyle Raubinger (Loyola Marymount).

“We’re just really lucky to have the guys we can run out,” Lachemann said. “(Yancosek) is capable of doing that every time he goes out there, and that’s kind of what we expect.”

Jordan Morrison had three singles, and Brady Muth, Mitch Hollings-worth, Brent Vanderveen and Mike Fisher all had two hits each.

Muth, Hollingsworth, Cameron Petetit and Kyle Kleinsmith all had two RBI, and Muth, Petetit, Fisher and pinch-hitter Isaac Debow all collected doubles.

“We did a good job getting the barrel on the ball with two strikes, which is what we’ve been working on, and they did a good job of hitting the ball up the middle,” Lachemann said. “We didn’t give away any at-bats today; we did give away a few (Tuesday).”

The Tigers (7-6, 5-3) pitched around Raubinger, intentionally walking him in back-to-back at-bats — something Lachemann estimated has happened nearly 10 times so far this season.

“He’s one of those kids that’s just head-and-shoulders, offensively, above most kids in the area, so why would you let him beat you?” Lachemann said of Raubinger, who came into the day with a Central Coast-leading five homers. “I think it’s a great coaching move.”

Dakota Wells had the lone hit for the Tigers with a second-inning single. San Luis Obispo also hurt itself with three errors.

“They hurt themselves,” Lachemann said. “They’re a better team than that, and we know that.

“We came out and played a really good game, and they didn’t play their best,” Lachemann said. “You add those two things up, with Jesse on the mound, and we’re going to do pretty well.”

The rubber match will be in San Luis Obispo at 4:30 p.m. Friday.

“We have three solid pitchers, and our defense is pretty solid, too,” Yancosek said. “So as long as we put the ball in play and keep hitting, we should be good.”

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